


wherever i go there's a shadow of you (let's love tonight)

by sunshine_daises_daffodils



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Dorks in Love, Fluff, High School AU, M/M, One-Shot, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, bianca's not here but she's not dead she's graduating college, everyone ships it, hazel plays soccer, he's awkward, hopefully this new name i'm about to come up with will suck less, i love them, i wrote this like two years ago lol, jason drinks coffee, jason is will's full time wingman, just fluff, leo's there too, love ya bianca, my lovely dorks, my tags are too long lol, nico and will being adorable, nico and will being in denial, nico draws for fun, octavian roasting, onerepublic song title because they're great, original name sucked, piper does drama, pretty much everyone's here but it's mostly nico and will and jason and hazel, prom au, reyna is also a wingman, that's all it is, two different songs because i'm onerepublic trash actually, what a surprise, will's a nerd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-04
Updated: 2017-05-04
Packaged: 2018-10-28 04:30:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10823787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunshine_daises_daffodils/pseuds/sunshine_daises_daffodils
Summary: It was just prom.Just prom. As if. It could have been just prom, if Will wasn't about to ask out the guy of his dreams.If he said no, prom would be "just prom." Just a night of fun with his friends, to say goodbye to this school and this phase of his life. Just a small piece of the giant farewell this month was.But if he said yes…Will was not going to focus on anything but the "if." Because only the word "yes" would open that door of possibility.He took one more deep, deep breath. Like, Pacific Ocean deep. "Will you go to prom with me?"Jason gave a dead stare. "No."





	wherever i go there's a shadow of you (let's love tonight)

**Author's Note:**

> pfffff i posted without adding notes
> 
> and half of my tags were too long
> 
> i took the ap government and politics exam today that's the only explanation for my wonkiness please excuse me 
> 
> thanks for reading!

Will took about five deep breaths. He had no reason to be nervous. He really didn't. 

It was just prom. 

Just prom. As if. It could have been just prom, if Will wasn't about to ask out the guy of his dreams. 

If he said no, prom would be "just prom." Just a night of fun with his friends, to say goodbye to this school and this phase of his life. Just a small piece of the giant farewell this month was. 

But if he said yes…

Will was not going to focus on anything but the "if." Because only the word "yes" would open that door of possibility. 

He took one more deep, deep breath. Like, Pacific Ocean deep. "Will you go to prom with me?" 

Jason gave a dead stare. "No." 

Will collapsed, burying his face in his hands. “Jason.” he groaned. “That’s not what’s supposed to happen!” 

Jason shrugged. “I’m just saying he might…” 

“You said he would say yes!” Will chucked a pencil at him. Over at the next table, Penelope Bunce sat up and gave him the stink eye. Will shrunk. "You said." he whispered fiercely. 

Snatching the pencil off the floor, Jason began to doodle on his textbook. He and Will were studying for their German exam - the school required one year of a language to graduate and both of them were barely limping through a class mostly composed of freshmen. "I'm sorry." he apologized, sounding not at all sorry to Will. "You know he likes you." 

"I know." Will wished he had a pillow to mash his face in. No, he wished he could see the future, so he could know whether it was a bad idea to ask Nico. 

Penelope sighed audibly. Jason made like he was studying. "Well, this is prom. It's your last chance, really. He's applying to some faraway colleges." 

Will kicked the table, his mood souring. "Jason. You are supposed to be supportive and helpful. Not reminding me of all this stuff I already know!" 

Jason adjusted his glasses. "Well, he kissed you, didn't he?" 

Yes. He had. Last year, at the art camp. That day, the world had begun and ended. Will didn't like thinking about that day. Not because of the kiss - the kiss was everything it should have been. But Nico had avoided him for weeks afterward… 

He wasn't ready. That's what Hazel and Jason and Annabeth had all told him. Nico wasn't ready to be out. 

But Will hated feeling like it was somehow his fault that Nico was scared. Maybe if he were someone else, someone braver, someone better, someone more worthy of Nico, maybe things would be different. 

Jason had casually mentioned that Nico felt like this, senior year, was now or never. He was at least going to tell people. Emphasis on the at least. Will could read into that. It was time. Now or never. 

Time to prove or dispel the doubts. 

A phone dinged. Jason dug in his bag, ignoring Penelope's aghast expression. "Nico's outside, on his bench, waiting for me to drive him home." he said. "I am conveniently not going to see this text and visit Piper at play rehearsal." 

Will's brain started whirring. "Uh..." 

"You are going to go out and give him the rose. You have it, right?" 

Will sheepishly pulled the crushed rose out of his backpack. 

"Okay." Jason blinked. "That was optional. What he doesn't know won't hurt him. Just go. Do it. Before I lose my nerve.” 

“Uh, you aren’t the one asking him!” 

“Yeah, but I’m nervous for you.” Jason smiled wanly. Will considered biting him, but that was gross and oh look, he was leaving. Great. He might as well leave too. Penelope could make a killing as the librarian’s watchdog. 

Will stepped out from the cool indoor air to the unseasonably warm May afternoon. Nico was right there on the least popular bench. At this time of day, it was right in the sunlight, making students avert it in favor of the benches under the trees. That was exactly why Nico liked it. Not in a hipster way, but because the light was so good. 

Nico wanted to go into forensic science or policing, but he really liked drawing. The sketches in his black journal never ceased to amaze Will, who couldn’t even draw a proper squiggly line. Right now he was outlining a figure on a blank page. 

“Hey, what’cha drawing?” Will asked. 

Nico flipped the sketch book shut and squinted up at Will. “Oh. Hey, Will.” 

Will was starting to get a familiar anxiety he’d called the “uh-oh” feeling when he was little. (“I feel uh-oh, Mommy!”) “Sorry, was I not supposed to see that?” 

“No, it’s just visual arts homework. We’re supposed to draw someone we admire.” Nico skimmed through the pages aimlessly. “I’m drawing Bianca.” 

“Oh yeah, she’s graduating this week, right?” Will sat down on the bench. That seemed like a good idea. They were having a polite conversation and all. "That's really awesome. It's unbelievable how hard she worked."

“Yeah, it's great.” Nico looked slightly uncomfortable. That wasn’t good. He didn’t want Nico to be uncomfortable.

"Hey, you want to hear a stupid joke?" Where had that come from? Way to be smooth, Solace. "I heard it today, and it's so stupid it's funny." 

Nico shrugged. "Sure." 

"Okay." Will made a show of clearing his throat and preparing. Nico cracked a smile. Good. "Are you from Africa?" 

Nico frowned. "Uh…" 

"Because I freakin love you!" Will grinned. Nico crinkled his nose. "That was really bad." 

"Yeah, but you liked it, didn't you?" Will nudged him with his shoulder. Nico pursed his lips, hiding a wobbly smile. 

"A little." 

There was a little person, a little boy maybe, nestled inside Will's brain or heart or stomach, and he was saying that it was really now or never. Because now Nico was laughing, and his too-long hair was slipping down his forehead and into his eyes, and his eyes were crumpled in sunlight. Now or never. 

"Hey, Nico, can I ask you something?" There was still a chance to turn back, to make it a question about calc homework or something, but that was cowardly and wrong in the face of the right that was sitting in front of him. 

Nico sat up straighter, as if someone was about to take a picture of him. "Sure, what's up?" 

"I…uh…" Why was Will sweating? Oh yeah, because it was stinking hot out. Why was it so stinking hot out? It was May. Technically, there was another full month of spring left. Why didn't the weather ever work with him? 

Waiting, Nico started to dig in his backpack. 

Keep it together, Solace. What did he practice with Jason? He felt squirmy and awkward, as if he was at a meal with people who didn't speak English. 

And the brave little boy buried somewhere deep inside screamed, "Just do it!" 

"Nico, will you go to prom with me?" 

He did it. Will held his breath. He was acutely aware of every whisper of the halfhearted breeze, the comfortably itchy denim on his legs. The way Nico's heartbeats seemed to stop cold. 

He sat up and faced Will. "What?" 

The breeze and the clouds and the birds and the sky began the chant. No no no. No no no.

Will moaned inside. "I…you heard me, didn't you?" He was a fool. A deluded, idiotic fool.

"Yeah." Nico shook his head, letting his hair shield his face from view. "Sorry. I heard you." 

Some part of Will began falling off an endless cliff. "Okay." That was a lie. None of it was okay. "I'm sorry." That was a lie too. 

"Me too." The words were tiny. Tinier still, however, was what Nico said next. "Will…I want to go. With you." 

Those words felt like grace. Those words felt like he'd been splashed with ice water. Will moistened his lips. "Really?" 

"Yeah." He turned away, toward the doors. "But…Will, Bianca doesn't graduate this weekend. She graduates next weekend. On Saturday…" Prom night. "We're flying out to California that morning. There's no way I'm getting out of it."

Will should have felt relieved, but the only thing he felt was incredulity. "Did you tell anyone?" Jason would have told him, no doubt. Hazel would have too. And Annabeth… 

"No." And Will remembered all the times lunch table or math class conversations had turned to prom, and Nico had sat in silence or changed the subject. Nearly every day.

"I didn't think anyone would ask me-" 

"But what about everyone else? Don't you think all your friends thought you'd be there? You didn't even tell Hazel?" 

Nico shifted. "Our dad didn't buy Hazel a ticket. He didn't even tell her. And I thought everyone else would be disappointed." 

Once those words were out of Nico's mouth, Will's frustration with the situation seeped out. "Okay. Sorry that you didn't expect anything from me." 

Nico's eyes widened. "Will, I-"

"Just forget it. Have fun with Bianca." Will clasped his hands tightly together and got up. "See you." He headed back into the school, cutting off Nico's words with the door. Nico didn't follow him. 

....................

When Jason got outside, he found Nico furiously scribbling in a picture of Will. Both of them looked bewildered and angry and lost.

"Hey." That was the only word he said, and Nico was so grateful for it. They got in Jason's car, and Jason didn't pry. He just waited until Nico was ready to tell him what happened.

"My dad and I are going out of town prom weekend." he said, staring out the window. Seeing nothing. "And I told nobody. They all just assumed I would be going." 

Jason nodded. He made a right where they should have made a left. Nico noticed. "Where are we going?" 

"There was a soccer game earlier. We're getting Hazel, remember?" 

Yes. Jason had arranged it, and Nico realized with sudden warmth that he was doing it for him. "Yeah. Thanks." 

"I texted her." he replied, and Nico exhaled in relief. He wouldn't have to tell her. Silver lining. 

They pulled into the parking lot of the school Hazel was playing at. Nico felt a scratch of guilt that he hadn't come to see her, but he always went to every home game. He resolved to go to the last game, which was to be held an hour away. 

Hazel came jogging out, her hair bouncing behind her in a ponytail. She climbed in back, wrapped her arms around Nico's neck, and hugged him hard. He clasped her hand. "Did we win?" he whispered. 

"Yes." she replied, happy but subdued. "Are you okay?" 

He was going to tell Hazel everything. "Not really," he started, and then he told her and Jason what Will had said and what he had said and why he had said it. He told her why he wasn't going, and where he'd be on prom night. 

She pursed her lips once he mentioned that. "He knows I love her too, right?" 

"He does." And Nico had definitely told him. He's gotten Bianca to call and everything. 

"Just checking. Continue." 

Nico knew she was cramming the hurt somewhere deep inside her for now, to be taken out and examined and cried over later. He loved her boundlessly for it. 

When he finished the embarrassing, lengthy story (he even let her look at the picture he drew) Hazel lifted her chin and met his eyes in the rearview mirror. "So, what are you going to do?" 

"I don't know." Nico stared at the crinkled paper she handed back. He tried to smooth out Will's baffled, beaten eyes, tried to make them clear and happy again. They wouldn't do it. 

(Sometimes he'd wondered what would happen if he kissed him again, just walked up in the halls without warning and kissed him like he had at the camp last year. But of course he knew what would happen. Someone would stare, or jeer, or worse, Will would push him away…)

Jason gave the drawing a suspicious glance. "Maybe you should just throw that out. The picture, I mean." 

"I can't, it's visual arts homework." He'd blatantly lied to Will about the subject of his sketch, but telling him he was drawing him was not up for discussion. 

"The one where we're supposed to draw someone we admire?" asked Hazel, who was also in the class. 

"Yeah…" Nico brushed a hand over the charcoal, black and white for now. "Not just because I like him. But he's just a good guy, you know? He puts everyone else's needs before his, and he's genuine, and he smiles at everyone even when he's having a bad day. He's brave, too…and he helps other people be brave. He helped me be brave." And he had no idea. No idea that his was the example Nico followed by telling someone (Leo Valdez) and explicitly saying that it was not a secret. 

Jason exchanged a glance with Hazel, and Nico knew that they weren't going to let him stop talking. Whatever. 

"He deserves someone better-" 

"Nope." Jason said, a split second before Hazel did. 

"He deserves something better than what I gave him," Nico corrected, "something that shows him how much he matters. To me. He deserves a perfect prom." 

"Yeah, but we can't get him that." Jason replied. "His version of a perfect prom circles entirely around you, Neeks." 

Nico blushed. He was about to scold Jason when his mind suddenly tripped and fell down some invisible staircase of crazy ideas. 

He turned around and locked eyes with Hazel. "But…"

........................

Saturday, May twentieth, was prom. Friday, May nineteenth, was Will's eighteenth birthday. Before the disaster of asking Nico out last Friday, he'd found the alignment serendipitous, even fateful. Now he just wanted the whole miserable week to be over. 

He hadn't seen Nico all weekend, of course. On Monday he'd considered faking sick or skipping, but he was too hung up on his perfect attendance to do that. And of course Nico had pretended he was invisible. 

His friends had consoled him, and he saw Hazel with a comforting hand on Nico's shoulder. All week people had treated lightly around him. But there really wasn't anything to do but tell his mom he wasn't going. 

She gave him a concerned, "youngest child" look Will had grown used to. "Did things go badly with Nico?" 

He'd sighed and scratched his neck. "Yeah…I don't really want to talk about it." 

She'd let it lie, and he was so grateful for it. Today he was going to make it up to her, smile his way through his birthday. 

Everyone knew his birthday -- they'd all had a nightmarish third-grade teacher who'd forced them to memorize the entire class's birthdays, and no one had forgotten them. (Impossible, really. Mrs. Dodds had made them recite them twenty times a day.) So there were claps on the back and cards slipped in his locker and singing at lunch. 

But this year, there was nothing from Nico. Not a word, not a smile, not even a glance. Will felt an overwhelming sadness spread through his stomach and into his lungs. He breathed. All day long, that's what he focused on. He turned on autopilot (smile, laugh, smile some more, don't look at Nico) and just breathed, because his anger had smoothed over into a horrible feeling that made him nearly burst whenever he thought about Nico. 

He had ruined everything. That was pretty much it. 

When he got home, he faked his way through presents with Kayla and Austin, who'd flown here just for the occasion. After an hour of cake and laughter, they both set out to see different high school friends, visit old hangouts or whatever. Will didn't really pay attention. 

It was just him and his mom cleaning up dishes at about seven. He noticed she kept checking her watch, and the microwave clock, and her phone. She wasn't chatting up a storm like usual. "Hey, Mom, are you okay?" 

She looked up, startled. "No, what, yes, I'm fine, darling."

Will's mom had always been a tad absent minded, but she'd never ever called him "darling." And she'd been acting weird all afternoon. "Are you sure?" 

"Yes. Are you okay?" She blinked at him with eyes he'd always found startlingly blue paired with her graying brown hair. "You seem like you've been having an off week." 

"Yeah…I'm sorry. I know it wasn't supposed to be like this." Will averted his eyes guiltily. He stacked a few plates. "Is there anything you need from me right now?" 

"You can go ahead and go to bed." she replied, apparently not comprehending. "I think all you need is a good night's sleep."

"It's only seven…" Will protested, but honestly, that sounded like a great idea. He really needed to sleep off this week and this life for a little while. "Okay." 

She beamed. "Great. You don't have to sleep now, but I don't want you up too late, okay, sweetie?" 

She always called him "sweetie." He smiled. "Goodnight, Mom. Thanks for the nice birthday." 

He went upstairs, studied, read a book, changed into his pajamas, stretched, and was about ready to go to bed. It was nine-thirty when his mom called up the stairs. "Will! Can you come down here for a minute?" 

Will yawned and tromped down the stairs, slightly irritated. "Mom, what do you-" 

He stopped as soon as he rounded the corner. As far as he knew, time stopped as well. He was vaguely surprised he didn't lose his balance and pitch forward down the stairs. 

Nico di Angelo was standing at the foot of the stairs. He was wearing a tux. His hair was shorter. He was smiling at Will. 

Will was sure his face was hilarious. "Wha…" 

"Hi, Will." Nico said. "Are you ready?" 

Will's mom placed a hand on Nico's shoulder. "Nico helped me load the dishwasher and clean up dinner." She winked at him. "Doesn't he look handsome? 

He looked like an angel come to Earth. He looked magical. Will attempted to close his mouth. "Ready for what?" 

"Prom." Nico answered, as if it was obvious. He looked on the cusp of a laugh. It wasn't a joke, was it? It had to be… 

Will was suddenly acutely aware of his worn green pajama pants and T-shirt with a hole in it. "Prom's tomorrow…" 

Nico shook his head. "It's tonight. You look great." 

"I…I'm in my pajamas. And I don't even have shoes on." And his hair wasn't combed, and his teeth weren't brushed…Will considered running upstairs and pulling on the suit he wore to his grandfather's funeral, but that had been in seventh grade. 

"You won't need shoes." Nico promised. "Come on, we can't be late." He lifted his eyebrows and Will's mom laughed. 

As if in a trance, Will descended the stairs. Nico offered his arm and he took it. But instead of heading for the door, Nico guided him to the basement door. 

"Uh, the door is over there." 

"I've been here for the past two hours, Solace. Just trust me." Nico said comfortingly. 

"What?" Will turned to look at his mother, but then the door was shut and they were going down the steps and one of Will's favorite songs in the world was playing. 

And then they were downstairs and they were inside prom.

The theme that year was "Silver and Gold," and the entire basement was adorned with golden drapes and silver streamers. Boys Will knew lounged in tuxedos, and girls floated in a rainbow of dresses. He did a double take when he saw Annabeth in pale pink. Percy had a matching bow tie. 

The food table was lined with pretzels, blueberries, pretzel Goldfish, and five different kinds of Oreos. An ice cream cake dotted with Oreo crumbles made his mouth water. (Will was an Oreo fiend.) 

"We're playing all of Will's favorite songs tonight, so drop a request as long as you know he likes it!" Cecil Markowitz called, apparently being the DJ. 

Will saw that he knew everyone there. There were Jason and Piper, and Hazel and Reyna, and all his ultimate Frisbee buddies, and everyone in Students Aspiring for Medicine, and most of the drama kids…

He stared at Nico. "What?" 

Nico grinned. "Happy birthday." 

Will stared at his Cheshire Cat "I-got-away-with-something" smile for far too long and finally grasped Nico's hand in his. "Come dance."

Nico didn't protest like he imagined he would, and they joined the crowd on the dance floor only to be separated a moment later. Will might have mourned, but everyone was genuine and lovely and there was well-wishing and laughing to do. 

"Did you plan this?" Will asked Jason. Jason pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose (they were new and hadn't been adjusted yet.) "I helped, but it was Nico's idea." 

Will glanced across the room at Nico, who was whirling Hazel across the dance floor. She fluttered in a modest white dress, and they were laughing about something. "When did he come up with it?" 

"Last Friday." Piper supplied. "He made Jason turn around and go back to the school and enlisted the entire cast to help." She was quick to inform Will that everyone had been eager to help out. "We really wanted a kind of backup, in case prom sucked." 

There was a high chance of that, considering the head of the prom committee was that idiot Octavian, whom Will was utterly relieved not to see here tonight. He wandered and chatted, absorbing bits and pieces of the story of how this had occurred. 

Nico had shown up at Mrs. Solace's doorstep to ask permission, spill the entire story, and plead his case…Nico had sworn prolifically and threatened to kick the Stolls out unless they left the twelve-pack they'd brought in their car because of Will's hatred of alcohol (what? It was bad for you!)…Nico had spent hours quietly dictating the exact decoration of the basement so Will wouldn't hear…Nico had scrutinized the guest list and made sure Will felt positively about every person on the secret email list, and he had done the same for the song list…Nico and Jason had gone to three different places looking for just the right tuxedo and agonized over the haircut…

Will couldn't believe anyone would go to such lengths to make something special for him. He was eating Oreos and telling stupid stories with Dakota and the Stolls when someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned and was surprised to see Reyna. 

"Come dance with me." she said in a commanding tone that gave him no option. He took her offered hand and they stepped onto the dance floor. A slow Coldplay song was playing, and Reyna kept a professional distance as she placed her hands on his shoulders. She was taller than him. Rumor had it that she was heading to West Point. 

"I like your dress." Will whispered, because it was sort of quiet, and he really did like her dress. It was a dark teal and she looked like a queen in it. 

"Nico's been in love with you for years now." Reyna said bluntly. 

"Oh." Will replied, because there was really no other response to a statement that had stirred his insides like a plate of spaghetti. "Um…okay?" 

"No. It's not okay. Because I know you like him too - oh come on, he kissed you and you liked it and everyone knows, but you're too scared to do anything about it. You have to do something or you'll regret it. You really will. He's done his part, and it's your turn." 

Will blinked, knowing that he was blushing. Reyna locked eyes with him, dead serious. "Will, if you really want to do something, the time is now."

He nodded. Reyna was good at this. "Okay." 

The song changed, and it was quite possibly his favorite song ever, and someone was muttering "Excuse me, sorry, excuse me please-" and there was Nico looking very wonderful in his tux and time stopped for a very long second as Will realized he'd been looking for him and Will had been looking for Nico too and then Will was gripping his wrist and taking him outside- 

When Will kissed him, the rest of the world turned to dust. 

There might have been cheering inside, because there were windows and it wasn't completely dark yet. But Will didn't care, because he was finally kissing Nico and everything was fine. 

"I really like your tux." he whispered. He felt Nico laugh. "I really like your pajamas." 

Will looked down and wonder of wonders, his PJ shirt was for that art camp he'd gone to, with Nico, where Nico had kissed him… "Thank you."

And then he was kissing him again and murmuring, "thank you thank you thank you" over and over again and there was light streaming in behind them- 

The light turned out to be Leo opening the door and clearing his throat. "Um, guys, uh, Will, your mom wants to come down and she yelled down to ask and we told her you were in the bathroom, so…" He paused, clearly uncomfortable. "Just finish soon, please. Uh…I support you!" he cried, suddenly flinging the door shut. 

Nico cracked up. "Oh my god, Will, you should've seen his face, I wish I'd filmed that." 

Will sighed. "Aw, poor Leo. Much awkward. Many nervous." Nico covered his mouth and guffawed. 

"We should probably go in now." Will said once they'd recovered a bit. 

"Yeah, we should…one second." Nico grabbed him and kissed him one more time. He grinned. "Come on, I want some ice cream cake." 

The ice cream cake was amazing, and so were the pretzels that Will smushed into his. He danced with his mom and ignored how she kept winking at Nico, and he gave Jason a gigantic hug for everything, and botched some OneRepublic karaoke with Piper, and danced a crazy fast song with Nico and Reyna and Lou Ellen and possibly everyone in the room and Will wondered if the universe had ever fit him so perfectly before.

Nico was smiling and Nico was happy and Will could have died that night, but he didn't want to. What he wanted was for tonight to never end. Even though of course it would, and school would end in three weeks and he probably wouldn't see most of these people again after that- 

Thinking about that plummeted Will's spirits, big time. He went outside again, where a few people were scattered about speaking in hushed tones. Will sat down and tried to work his way up to positive, happy, carefree Will Solace again. 

He was so lost in his thoughts that he nearly yelled when someone sat beside him and grabbed his hand. Nico uncapped the Sharpie and began scribbling something on the back of Will's hand in neat print. 

"Can't you just put your number in my phone?" Will asked, craning his neck to see what he was writing. 

"You have conveniently left your phone in your house which you are not going to because we're at the school gym for prom." Nico answered. Will laughed and made him write down his email address too. 

"I'm going to miss this." he observed. He clarified quickly, "Tonight. And high school and everyone here." 

"Me too." Nico finished his email address and snuggled into Will's side. "But I kind of like that it's ending, in some weird way. It'll make for some great memories, and this is a great ending."

Will nodded against Nico's black hair. "Yeah, but I'll still miss you." 

"I'll come surprise you at your prestigious medical school all the time, and you'll invite me to my surprise birthday party." Nico said, entwining his fingers with Will's. "We'll make this work." 

This. Will felt a bubble of warmth surge through him. 

Nico turned and met Will's eyes. "And…I really do want this to happen, Will. I want it to happen a lot." 

Will pulled him closer and whispered, "thank you." 

Cecil announced the last slow song, a quiet, lovely song that always gave Will chills. He and Nico headed back in and they held each other and swayed. 

When it ended, the last song began and someone flicked on the twinkle lights strung in the backyard trees. The girls kicked off their heels and ran out, their unstyled hair streaming after them, the boys chasing after them. Laughter swirled the stars and Will ran out with them to whirl Nico around one last time and bask in the mortality of the moment. 

Everyone left after that, toting trash upstairs and thanking Nico and Will and Will's mom before leaving. Nico insisted on helping tear down the streamers, but Will's mom drew the line at taking down the twinkle lights. "You've done enough, sweetie." she said in a tone that immediately made Nico back down, much to Will's entertainment. 

"Nico, c'mon, we're leaving." Jason said in the doorway. "Thank you so much, Ms. Solace."

"Yeah, one sec." When Jason left, Nico threw his arms around Will's neck and kissed him with everything he had. Right in front of Will's mom, but Will was sort of past embarrassment. When they broke apart, they stood there until Nico muttered, "See you Monday!" and vanished out the door. 

Will's mom looked highly amused. "Well. Did you have fun?" she asked, smirking. 

Rather than answer, Will hugged her close and thanked her profusely. Then he put Nico's contacts in his phone and went to bed. It was three in the morning, and he was deliriously happy. 

...........................

This was the first Monday possibly ever that he hadn't woken up tired. Nico got ready fast, and was outside Jason's door a whole half hour earlier than he needed to be. When Jason finally stumbled out, he found Nico smoothing his hair and mumbling, "I think I should've worn the other shirt, but that one had a hole in it, but this one's too big, oh god, Jason, my hair's a mess-" 

Jason held out a hand. "No. Coffee first." 

When Jason had been sufficiently caffeinated, he reassured Nico that he looked great. Nico grumbled and stared out the window. When they arrived at school, Jason shoved him out of the car and quickly locked it so he couldn't get back inside. 

Jason knew him too well. 

Nico's anxiety about this was something palpable, thickening the air around him. When he saw the back of Will's head, he considered hyperventilating. Jason, however, was having none of it. He clapped a hand on Nico's shoulder. "Go." 

In Nico's mind, the crowd parted for him. He went up to Will and tapped him on the shoulder. Will turned around. 

He was wearing a tux. His hair was newly trimmed. He was grinning. 

Nico kissed him like he'd dreamed of for years. Only for a few seconds, because they were at school and all. But yeah. 

Later, when he opened his locker, he found a slip of paper. "Will you go out with me, check yes or no, Will Solace." Nico rolled his eyes and checked his answer, then taped it up on Will's locker so everyone could see it. 

When Nico sat down at lunch, Will slung an arm around his shoulders, surprising him in the best way possible. There were grins and knowing looks exchanged among their friends, and excessive congratulations from many. 

"Do you want to get some froyo?" Nico asked casually after school. 

Will lifted his eyebrows. "Like a date?" 

Nico grinned up at him. "Exactly." 

And so they did, and Nico relished how he suddenly didn't care about the occasional stare or whisper. Well, he did care, but not much. He had better things to love. 

........................

According to just about everyone, real prom sucked.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! 
> 
> comments and constructive criticism are appreciated


End file.
